Toggle lever operated pliers with pivoted jaw piece



Aug. 1949. L. E. ISELE 2,478,696

TOGGLE LEVER OPERATED PLIERS WITH PIVOTED JAW PIECE Filed Aug. 25, 1944 INVENTOK, LOU/5 E. ISELE HTTORNZY v Patented Aug. 9, 1949 TQGGLE LEV-ER OPERATED PLIERS; WITH PIVOTED JAW PIECE Louis E. Isele, Watertown, Conn., assignorto Seymour. Smith & Son, Oakville, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut ApplicationAugustZS, 1944, Serial-No. 550,723,

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements. ina tool comprising a pair of handles pivoted to..- gether, and more particularly to a. toggle pliers which may also be used as alock grip wrench..

One object of this invention is to provide a lock grip pliers of the above nature, which is adapted to serve as a clamp orvise'to permit the tool and the article clamped thereby to be laid downwhile performing some other operation.

A further object isto provide a lock grip pliers which-will serve as a third hand to take the place of an additional helper.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature in which the, lock gri mechanism avoids the necessity of exertingthe musclesof the fingers for holding the jaws in closedposition when used as a wrench or as a clamp for holdin one or more parts together for drilling, welding, or grinding.

A further object is to; provide a lock grip pliers A further object is to provide-a, lock, grip pliers of the above nature in which therockable jaw and the intermediate lever are provided with c0- operating cam surfaces which serve to'prevent stresses from being imparted. to the pivot pin which connects said work-engaging jaw to said lever.

A further object is to provide a lock grip pliers of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental". in appearance, and very efiicientand durable in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 represents a side view of the lock grip pliers showing in full lines the closed position of the movable handle when clamped upon an article, and in dotted lines, the open position of said movable handle.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a forward portion of the lock grip pliers, showing its appearance when clamped upon an irregular-shaped work piece.

Fig. 3 is a front end view of the lock grip pliers.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the rear portion of the pliers, taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, and showing the rear portion of the stationary handle in section.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals: denot'ecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral. Illindicates astationary handle havinga ribbed-workengaging jaw I l rigidly securedto the end of said handle llLby means of ascrew member Ha. The jaw H isv adapted to; cooperate with a swiveled work-engaging jaw or anvil l2 having a ribbed face l3 formed oncoplanarfiangesthereof, said swiveled jaw l2 comprising a depending reduced central wingsection [2a which is adapted tobe rockablyreceived in aslotlformed between the the upper portions of. a pair of abutting convex stripsql5a; [5b on an intermediate movablelever [5 which is pivotally secured to thestationary handle -l0.-by a pin I6. The-wing section [2a is secured to theswiveled jaw oranvil- 12 by means of a pivot pin I 4=having a cross shaped slot-14a on I its head for :convenience :in the manipulation thereofn Theabuttingstrips I511; [5b are provided with circularconvex bearing surfaces hereinafter called trunnions H, I! on"their upper portions for cooperating with a pair-of circular. bearing recesses 18; i8 formedion-the; bottoms ofthe two overhanging flanges of the "jaw' lziabove the wing 1211;

Bymeans of this construction itwill be seen that the movable work-engaging jaw [2' may swivel with I respect tothe pivot pin l4-' without causing any stresses to be transmitted to said pinall stresses and'wear being taken up by the engagement of the trunnions I! with the recesses l8.

It-will also lie-understood from this construction; that theangular motion .of the swiveled jaw 12 in-opposite directions will be limited by the engagement of the extremities of said swiveled 'jaw I2, with the shoulders 18a. vI8liformcdon a. front extension .of 'theintermediate lever. l 5..

In order to operate the lock grip pliers, pro vision is made of a movable handle l9, pivoted on a pin 20 which passes through the intermediate movable lever l5.

For the purpose of maintaining the pliers normally in open position, provision is also made of a strong coiled spring 2| having a front hook member 22 which is adapted to engage in a circular aperture 23 in the intermediate lever l5 formed substantially midway between the pivot pins l6 and 20. The spring 2! is also provided with a. rear hook 24 which passes through a circular aperture 25 located about half way between the ends of the stationary handle 10, said hook being forwardly 3 directed so as to form a secure anchorage in said aperture (see Fig. 3).

In order to produce a strong gripping action of the movable swivel jaw l2 against the stationary jaw ll, provision is made of a toggle link 26 connected by a pivot pin 2'! to the handle lever It. The toggle link 26 is provided with a rear concave socket 28 having an upper overhanging lip '29 extending rearwardly therefrom for engagement with a reduced convex Din 3i formed on the front end of a screw bolt 38. The screw bolt 30 is also provided with a knurled rear handle knob 32 to facilitate manual adjust ment thereof.

In order to enhance the frictional grip of the users hand upon the stationary handle l9 and the movable handle 19, provision is made of a plurality of transverse grooves 33, 34 formed on the upper and lower surfaces of said handles, respectively, as clearly shown in Fig, 1..

Operation In operation, when the handle member 19 is moved upwardl against the stationary handle ID, the toggle action of the link 25 connected with the movable intermediate lever 15 will force the swiveled jaw I'Zyto engage the Work piece W with a strong gripping vise-like action. If the screw bolt 30 has previously been properly adjusted to the correct position, the pivot pin 21 will then pass upwardly beyond the dead center position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 and under the force of the spring 2| will snap into locked position above the same and produce a powerful locking grip action. 7

One advantage of the present invention is that the stationary jaw H and the swivel jaw 12 will always lie in flat engagement with the upper and lower surfaces of the work piece W, whether or not said surfaces are in parallelism. A further advantage is that the trunnions I1 and the concave recesses l8 will absorb the stresses so that the swiveled jaw l 2 will be prevented from exerting force on the pivot pin l4.

Another advantage is that the improved lock grip pliers are adapted to be used as a pipe wrench for gripping round pieces, or as a vise for holding small or large pieces during drilling, welding, forging, or other operations.

It will be understood, of course, that the im proved tool may be used as a simple pliers or as a'simple wrench without employing the toggle locking feature, but that when said feature is used, a gripping force of one ton or more may be easily exerted on the work piece without any undue exertion on the part of the operator.

A further advantage is that by the use of the swiveled jaw, a more uniform grip on the work will be obtained, thus eliminating any tendency for the edges of the work-engaging jaws to dig into the opposite surfaces of the work piece.

The work will also be prevented from rotating in the plane of the work faces.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which this invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the 'modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

In a tool of the plier-wrench type, employing a relatively fixed'tool handle having a jaw at one end, an L-shaped jaw-carrying lever pivoted to the fixed handle at said end and actuated by a toggle, comprising a movable handle pivoted to said lever and a toggle link pivoted at one end to said movable handle and at its other end to said fixed handle adjacent the free end thereof, said L-shaped jaw-carrying lever comprising a pair of coextensive strips secured in face-toface contact, said lever having a substantially triangular upper leg adapted to be pivoted upon said fixed handle, and a relatively narrow lower leg, portions of said strips being separated to form a slot in said lower leg, said portions having arcuate trunnions projecting upwardly from opposite sides of said slot, the edges of said strips being inclined downwardly from each side of the trunnions, a gripping anvil member comprising a wing section received in said slot, and opposite coplanar flanges at the top of said wing section, the underside of each flange having an arcuate bearing recess receiving one of said trunnions, and a pivot pin disposed in apertures in said trunnions and said wing section for retaining said wing section in said slot.

LOUIS E. ISELE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 449,250 Vandegrift Mar. 31, 1891 1,489,458 Petersen Apr. 8, 1924 1,561,833 Cruickshank Nov. 17, 1925 1,680,956 Simonsen Aug. 14, 1928 2,211,507 Lilleberg Aug. 13, 1940 2,299,454 Borchers Oct. 20, 1942 2,341,489 Tornborg Feb. 8, 1944 2,385,654 Seashore Sept. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 154 Great Britain Jan. 2, 1908 

